Collecting Rent For Your Investment

Our goal is to make sure you are paid in full — and on time! Therefore, we prepare and handle the lease documents, lease signing, and rent collection each month. Our residents are offered a variety of ways to pay rent — from online to in-person. We offer these conveniences to help ensure that you get your money as quickly as possible each month.
- The vast majority of our residents pay their monthly rent through our easy-to-access Tenant Portal.
- We expect that tenants pay by the first day of each month (bank holidays and weekends may sometimes delay rent collection).
- Our full-time Director of Accounting tracks tenant payments daily to ensure we promptly respond to non-payments or NSF payments if they occur.
- 99.5% of our tenants pay their rent each month. But should a tenant not pay the rent due, we have fair but firm rent collection policies that comply with state law.
- We close out our accounting month by the 10th day of each month and issue your funds via ACH directly to your bank account of choice.
Our Rent Collections Policy
- Rent is due on the 1st day of each month.
- We offer tenants a grace period until the 3rd day of the month.
- If rent is not received by the 3rd, we initiate our internal collection process.
- A state-required 3-day demand notice is prepared and served to the tenant on your behalf.
- This notice must be physically served at the property — which we handle for you.
- We continue to follow up with the tenant throughout the 3-day notice period.
- If funds are not received by the end of this period, we initiate the legal eviction process through our eviction attorney.
- In rare cases, we proceed with a physical eviction in coordination with the local county sheriff.
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Owner or Renter?
As Your Elgin Property Manager, We Take Care of Everything.
Marketing
Strategic marketing is essential to attracting high-quality tenants. For every property we manage, we conduct a customized market analysis to determine the ideal rental rate that maximizes your investment's return.
Tenant Screening
We conduct extensive screening on all tenants and handle everything from moving your qualified tenant into their new home, to rent collection, to handling maintenance issues.
Rent Collection
We make sure you get paid on time, every time. You no longer have to worry about rent showing up in your bank account because we take care of everything so you have to worry about nothing.
Maintenance
Our 24/7 Repair Center is always open to protect your property around the clock. We have low, normal urgent protocols to ensure cost control and pre-screen all of our vendors.
Financial Reporting
With our detailed financial reporting tools, it's never been easier to keep tabs on your investment. Log into your owner portal to view statements and stay in tune with how your investment is performing.
Eviction & Pet Protection
If a legal eviction becomes necessary WE will pay YOUR legal fees If a pet does damage to your property, WE will pay for that too! (some restrictions apply).
you’re protected with our guarantees
Happiness Guarantee
We believe in quality customer service. If for any reason you wish to discontinue your service with us, you can cancel your agreement at any time with no penalties. We believe we should earn your business every day.
Leasing Guarantee
If we place a tenant and they break their lease during the first 6 months - we will find a new tenant at no cost to you.
Leasing Fee Guarantee
You don't pay us a leasing fee until we have a signed lease AND money paid from the tenant.
Risk Mitigation Guarantee
For added peace of mind, we offer our owners up to $1,000 in pet damage protection for any approved pet—covering damages beyond the tenant's security deposit.
Additionally, in the event of an eviction, we will reimburse up to $1,000 in legal fees if those costs exceed the tenant's security deposit. *Maximum payout per lease not to exceed $1,000 - see eligibility requirements.
Management Fee
We believe that if we can't collect the rent - then we should NOT get paid. You only pay us a management fee if we successfully collect the rent due.
Rent Deposit Guarantee
We know you want your money fast! We ACH your tenant rent into your bank account by the 10th day of each month.
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Elgin Property Management Services
"This was by far the best experience I've ever had with a property management company. Cecilia Whitley has exceeded all expectations—quick to respond, highly professional, and genuinely friendly. They made the entire process smooth and stress-free. If you call Sterling & Associates Property Management and have the opportunity to work with any of the Executive Property Managers, rest assured you're in excellent hands. Thank you!"
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Elgin Property Management Services
"Sterling & Associates Property Management has been outstanding. After dealing with a previous company that consistently let us down, we needed a team that would communicate effectively and take care of our tenants. Cecilia Whitley has completely turned things around—our tenants are happy, and we finally have peace of mind. They've truly improved our entire experience as property owners."
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Elgin Property Management Services
"Cecilia Whitley at Sterling & Associates Property Management helped me through a nightmare situation with a problem tenant and guided me through the legal challenges they created. As a single-property owner, I was able to hand off nearly every responsibility—and it saved me an incredible amount of stress and time."